Apparatus and methods for monitoring a beverage dispenser, in particular a counter system

ABSTRACT

In a drink-dispensing installation, an authorized individual is required to identify himself by entering a code into a code-registering station. The drinks-dispensing installation includes an automatic valve and a manually-actuable hand-dispensing valve connected in series with the automatic valve. The automatic valve is maintained in an open position and is closed at a time subsequent to the start of opening the hand valve when a drink is first drawn off from the dispensing installation without first entering the code.

The invention relates to a method of, and to an apparatus for,monitoring a drinks dispenser, in particular in the form of adraught-dispensing installation.

A method of a generic type, and an associated apparatus, for monitoringthe drinks dispenser in bars or the like has been disclosed, forexample, by EP 0 442 375 A1. As is customary, an authorized individualhas to identify himself by a code when drawing off a drink. In orderthat the drink types and quantities dispensed are assigned to thecorrect code without the draught-dispensing operation being obstructed,it has been proposed that the drinks dispenser is permanently kept open,an alarm signal being emitted when a drink is drawn off without a codebeing entered, and that the alarm signal is terminated only whenidentification has been carried out. The liquid which has been removedis then assigned to the code used for turning off the alarm.

Nevertheless, a method of this type has disadvantages. The situationwhere an authorized individual completes a drawing-off operation andleaves the drinks-dispensing station without having entered his codecannot be ruled out. If there is to be no interruption to the furtherdrawing-off operation, then another authorized individual would thenhave to enter his code, in order to stop the emitted alarm signal, anddraw off the drinks and/or drinks required by him. In this case,however, the preceding drawing-off operation, which may have beencarried out by another authorized individual, would be assigned to thesucceeding authorized individual, as regards the number of drinks drawnoff and the selected drinks, and his code would be debited accordingly.

In the Patent Applications P 43 07 415.4-23 and P 43 17 946.0-23, thereis proposed another method. In order to avoid the drawn-off quantitybeing assigned incorrectly to a certain code, it is provided that, aftera presettable metered quantity has been reached, the metering operationis automatically terminated by closure of the automatic valve, which isconnected in series with the hand valve. In conjunction with the presetelectronics, this also provides the advantage that optionally as oftenas required or, in accordance with the proposal of P 43 17 946.0-23,only in the case of a permissible subsequent interrogation, acorresponding interruption can be carried out and then, nevertheless,the drawing-off operation can be terminated completely. The automaticvalve preferably opens only once the staff identification has beenentered, in order that an unambiguous assignment is achieved.

Although the last-mentioned draught-dispensing installations have provedfavorable as far as their functioning is concerned, there may, in somecircumstances, be a problem with certain drinks, for example with beer,that, once the automatic valve has been closed, the subsequent linesection between the automatic valve and the hand valve is not underpressure, and this may result in a certain decarbonization, i.e.foaming, of the drink, which may not always be desired.

The object of the present invention is thus to provide a furtherimproved method and an improved draught-dispensing installation, inwhich, in particular, decarbonization remains restricted only to thosecases of actual incorrect operation when a drink is drawn off without acode being entered beforehand.

The invention makes it possible to remove completely the incentive forimproper usage. Even if staff attempt, for example, to draw off thedrink in small portions without identification (and thus withoutbilling), this lasts over a relatively long period of time, so that itis questionable as to whether the drink can still be sold at all. Inaddition, the individual trying to use the installation improperly hasto put up with the secondary effect of a loud signal, which constantlydraws attention to the incorrect behavior.

The quantities which can be drawn off without waiter identification arebasically comparatively small and may additionally be registered in thebilling, and thus monitored.

There is no possibility for improper usage during an identificationphase since the various units are detected automatically.

The method permits the operation of a traditional, conventionaldraught-dispensing block, while maintaining long-standing tried andtested drawing-off practices, and thus ensures rapid and problem-freedrinks dispensing, combined with the great advantages of virtually 100%monitoring and precise automatic billing.

The invention provides that, once the hand valve has been opened, thatis to say once the drawing-off operation has begun, and, to be precise,if no code has been entered, the automatic valve does not closeimmediately, but closes at a point offset in time. That is to say, acertain, small, but altogether barely significant leakage quantity,which cannot be assigned to a code, is dispensed.

Should the drawing-off operation be started without a code being enteredbeforehand, then, of course, an acoustic and/or visual signal maysimultaneously be produced in addition.

An authorized individual realizes, inter alia by the flow of drinkswhich peters out immediately, that the code has not been entered, andcan close the hand valve again immediately thereafter. If the hand valveis closed at least before the final closure of the automatic valve or inthis period, then the automatic valve can open again immediately inorder to keep the line to the hand valve under pressure. Consequently,the carbonization, i.e. foaming of the drinks and, in particular, of thebeer is always reliably avoided.

The case in which no code has been entered and, despite the recognizablepetering-out of the flow of drinks, the hand valve is left in the openstate, thus resulting in the automatic valve then actually closing, mayactually be described as a genuine case of incorrect operation, whichonly occurs on a very small number of occasions. However, even if thehand valve is closed again thereafter and a code is entered, thedrawing-off operation can be carried out normally again immediately bythe hand valve being opened, the automatic valve opening againimmediately in this case. The thus remaining short period in which theautomatic valve was actually closed is not sufficient for undesirabledecarbonization of the drink to take place in the line between theautomatic valve and the hand valve.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the automatic valve closesslowly and continuously in the event of an attempt at drinks dispensingwithout a code being entered beforehand. In addition to this, oralternatively thereto, the closure operation for the automatic valve mayalso take place in a stepped manner. The closure time, i.e. thetermination of the complete closure operation of the automatic valve maybe offset by a unit of time of at least 0.5 sec with respect to thepoint in time at which the hand valve is opened. The time range of 0.5sec to 2 sec may be sufficient.

According to the invention, it is preferred that the small quantity ofdrinks dispensed in this case of incorrect operation is not assigned tothe subsequent drinks-dispensing operation when the code is entered.However, the small quantities of drinks dispensed, in the event of theabovedescribed incorrect operation, until the automatic valve is closedmay then be assigned, by the associated evaluation electronics, to an"incorrect operation" account. Consequently, the operator of thedraught-dispensing installation or the bar owner, etc. can read off thefrequency and extent of such incorrect operations.

The method according to the invention preferably also provides, interalia, that the draught-dispensing installation is constantly checked, ina processor-aided manner, for operational and system faults and it isonly when a deviation from normal operation is established that first ofall a clear signal is produced and - if the deviation is not eliminated,or cannot be eliminated, as quickly as possible - the automatic valvecloses. Resetting of the signal and of the valve is then only possiblevia an authorization identification. During the drinks dispensing, anautomatic proportion-detection system ensures rapid and reliabledetection of the drinks units as a basis for highly accurate automaticbilling.

Further advantages, details and features of the invention are givenhereinbelow in the exemplary embodiment represented with the aid ofdrawings, in which, in detail:

FIG. 1: shows a schematic perspective representation of an automateddraught-dispensing installation according to the invention; and

FIG. 2: shows a flow chart for illustrating the basic principle of themethod according to the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic construction, in a schematic perspectiverepresentation, of an automated draught-dispensing installationaccording to the invention, the basic construction of which correspondsin principle to that disclosed in Patent Application 43 07 415.4-23and/or Patent Application P 43 17 946.0-23.

The draught-dispensing installation according to FIG. 1 comprises anumber of bar or dispensing areas A1 to A6, a refrigeration area B andthe office, computer and evaluation area C.

The bar region A1 is, for example, a draught-dispensing bar which isconventional in principle and has draught-dispensing blocks 3 and tapsor hand valves 5 provided thereon.

A metered-quantity selection switch 9 may further be provided. The codeidentification takes place via a so-called waiter-recognition or staffreader unit 11.

The exemplary embodiments A2 to A4 comprise the envisagedwaiter-recognition apparatuses 11, for example spaced apart from theactual drinks-dispensing station, which apparatuses may be accommodatedin a housing seated on a flexible swan neck 12. The signals received arepassed on, via a line or line bus 15 (via a corresponding ring line 15in the exemplary embodiment shown) to control/evaluation electronics 17in the office area C.

The control and evaluation electronics 17 preferably operate on thebasis of a microprocessor or PC, by means of which, via correspondinginput and operator consoles 19 and an output unit 21, correspondingentries necessary for the overall operation of the installation can beinput or corresponding data can be output.

For example a number of drinks containers 25, inter alia for dispensingbeer, may be provided from a refrigeration area B, which drinkscontainers lead to the taps or hand valves 5 via corresponding lines 27.

As regards the draught-dispensing installation A1, it is shown that anautomatic valve 29 and a throughflow measuring sensor 31 are connectedin series at a suitable location in each line 27. Irrespective of theorder with respect to the throughflow measuring sensor 31, the automaticvalve 29 is preferably accommodated such that it is spaced apart fromthe hand valve or taps 5. The automatic valves 29 and the throughflowmeasuring sensors 31 are likewise connected, via corresponding lines andline buses 33, to the computer-aided control and evaluation electronics17.

The further drinks-dispensing stations or drawing-off stations A2 to A5represented in FIG. 1 relate, for example, to an externally meteringdraught-dispensing block, for which purpose a corresponding selectionkeypad 9 is switched in for entering the drinks quantity and/or thespecific drink.

In this exemplary embodiment according to A2, thestaff-identification-code register 11 is also assigned to the selectionkeypad 9. Each waiter, for example, may have stored in a watch-likehousing a personal identification code, which emits the correspondingsignals and is registered and processed accordingly upon being guidedpast the code-registering apparatus 11.

The drinks-dispensing station A3 relates to a draught-dispensing blockwith internal metering, by means of which, in the end, the overallquantity is automatically determined by way of the drawn-off quantity(via a corresponding throughflow measuring sensor 31) and is passed onto the evaluation electronics 17.

The drinks-dispensing station A4 relates to a schnapps-metering devicewhich can also operate in the manner of the drinks-apportioning device(if appropriate also without a throughflow motoring sensor 31).

As far as the drinks-dispensing stations A5 and A6 are concerned, it isonly schematically shown that further drinks-dispensing stations forexample in the form of a coffee or tea machine or of a drinks cabinetare also integrated in the overall installation and managed andcontrolled together with the same.

The mode of operation of the above draught-dispensing installation willnow be described with reference to FIG. 2.

Basically, the respectively mentioned automatic valve 29 assigned to theindividual tap is open during the entire operation of thedraught-dispensing installation. As is also the case for eachconventional draught-dispensing installation, the dispensing of thedrinks is begun by the tap or hand valve 5 being opened and, finally, isterminated once the desired quantity has been reached. For this purpose,the tap, i.e. the hand valve 5, is closed again. During this, theautomatic valve 29 remains open. It can already been seen that, as inthe case of every conventional draught-dispensing installation, thedrawing-off operation can be interrupted once or, if appropriate, anumber of times--if no other authorization requests are present andelectronic connection has taken place and/or corresponding monitoring isprovided.

Basically, the waiter identification is required before drinks areremoved. It is only when this identification is given that a drawing-offoperation can be successfully carried out and terminated.

In this case, preferably as many drinks quantities and/or differentdrinks as required can be drawn off, these being assigned to therespectively entered code.

In this arrangement, the quantity drawn off can be registered by thethroughflow measuring sensor 31 and assigned to the entered code.However, the quantity drawn off may also be determined in accordancewith specific steps and portions and then assigned to the code. If, asexample, a preset quantity of 0.25 l is exceeded or after exceeding asmall, still-permissible excess metered quantity up to, for example,0.26 l, then it is automatically assumed, in a processor-aided manner,that the next permissible quantity of, for example, 0.5 l, (in the caseof beer), is to be dispensed next. Even in the event of a finalinterruption to the drawing-off operation and removal of the waitercode, this portion size would then automatically be assigned to thepreviously applicable waiter code.

By virtue of this processor-aided analysis of the quantity-related andtime-related volume flows by way of a comparison with previously entereddrinks-specific drawing-off characteristics, different portion sizes arealso detected automatically without it being necessary to select aportion via a keyboard beforehand.

A display may be provided beside the draught-dispensing block 3, whichdisplay, during normal operation, shows information as to the drinksregistered under the last code. In addition, malfunction indications,fault indications and information as to which quantities the barrel 25may (still approximately) contain and as to whether a barrel or drinkscontainer is then actually completely emptied may be displayed.

In addition, the display may also be used to show the billing and/or thetotal of the drinks quantities dispensed and of the types of drinksdispensed.

A keypad 9 may be provided beside the draught-dispensing block 3 inorder for it to be possible to enter special drinks or mixed drinkswhich are not registered automatically. In addition, after authorizationidentification has taken place, it may be possible to delete or changethe last-registered drinks via the keypad e.g., as a result of anoperational fault, the quantities registered do not correspond with thequantities removed.

If, however, an attempt at drinks removal is inadvertently made withoutwaiter identification, then a signal 103 which cannot fail to be heardand/or seen is preferably produced first of all. It is thus indicated tothe operator that the tap 5 should be closed again immediately becausethe waiter identification has not been entered. If, after this, the tap5 is closed again within a preset time t_(wait) (interrogation 104 inFIG. 2), then the emitted signal is turned off again at 105.

Thereafter, by subsequently making good the entry of the waiteridentification at 107 (in FIG. 2), the drawing-off operation can becarried out as normal. That is to say, once the tap 5 has been opened,as many drinks as required can be removed.

If, however, the signal is disregarded over more than, for example, 2sec (t_(wait)) in that the tap 5 is not closed, improper usage isassumed and the automatic valve 31 of the relevant line 27 or all theautomatic valves 29 of the relevant draught-dispensing block 3 areclosed.

The closure operation takes place at a point offset in time with respectto the start of opening of the hand valve 5. That is to say, in such acase, the automatic valve 29 closes only after a bridging time t_(wait)of usually more than 2 sec up to approximately 2.5 or 3 sec. When thehand valve 5 is opened (with no waiter identification), the closureoperation can close in a stepped or continuous manner or after abridging time of, for example, approximately 2 sec, can then closeabruptly or likewise in a stepped or continuous manner until an overalltime of, for example, 2.5 sec or 3 sec is reached. In each case, theoperator immediately recognizes, by the drinks flow immediately peteringout (and in the event of the acoustic and/or visual signal 103 beingproduced in addition), that the waiter identification has not beenentered (the acoustic and/or visual signal 103 is advantageous here, butnot absolutely necessary).

In other words, once the hand valve 5 has been opened, the final closedposition of the automatic valve 29 should be reached at a point offsetin time, such that the entire closure phase, as calculated from thestart of opening of the hand valve 5, takes longer than at least 0.5sec, preferably 0.75 sec or 1 sec. Preferred values lie, in each case,above 1.25 sec, 1.5 sec, 1.75 sec or even 2 sec, as outlined above.

The conventional mode of operation is thus such that, if there is nowaiter identification and the hand valve 5 has been opened, basicallythe automatic valve 29 is closed completely, after a preset time oft_(wait) has been reached, if the hand valve 5 is not moved into theclosed position within this time. In this case, the further closureoperation of the automatic valve 29 is stopped immediately and theautomatic valve 29 can change over into its completely open positionagain. This can be detected by the throughflow measuring sensor 31 andthe corresponding position of the automatic valve 29, because, when theautomatic valve 29 is not yet completely closed, if the throughflowmeasuring sensor 31 detects an interruption in the drinks quantityflowing through, this means that the tap, and thus the hand valve 5,must already be closed.

In this case too, there is thus reliable avoidance of the situationwhere the line 27 is depressurized in the section of said line betweenthe automatic valve 29 and the hand valve or tap 5. Accordingly,decarbonization and frothing of certain drinks, for example beer, can bereliably avoided.

In the case described, only an extremely small drinks quantity is thusdispensed up to the point at which the automatic valve 29 is closed (ifthe hand valve 5 has not already been closed beforehand). Said smalldrinks quantity is preferably not assigned to the following staffidentification in the event of a renewed drawing-off operation, but isallocated to a special account. As a result, it is thus possible todetermine at a later date as to whether the abovementioned incorrectoperations took place from time to time, only rarely or not at all.

If, following an inadvertent attempt at drinks removal without a waiteridentification being entered beforehand, the tap 5 is indeed closed, butthen a second attempt is made to remove drinks without waiteridentification, improper usage is likewise assumed. According to theflow chart of FIG. 2, the signal is produced again at 111 and theassociated automatic valve 29 is closed at 113 in the flow chart.Resetting of the automatic valve 29 and of the signal is then possibleonly if an authorization identification is entered. This is intended toprevent the situation where a number of small leakage quantities areadded up one after the other.

The non-identified quantities and/or the number of non-identifiedremoval attempts are registered in the course of the billing period.Upon exceeding a limit value which can be freely established (e.g. morethan 5 incorrect operations in 10 minutes or more than 30 incorrectoperations over a billing period or more than 0.5 liters of waste in 60minutes), improper usage is then assumed once more and the automaticvalves 29 are closed, a signal being produced in addition. Resetting ofthe automatic valves 29 and of the signal is then possible only via anauthorization identification.

If, after interrogation at 104 in the flow chart, the tap 5 is notclosed or is only closed once the preset time t_(wait) has been exceededand the associated automatic valve 29 is closed, resetting of theautomatic valve 29 into the open state and turning off the signal takeplace only when an authorization identification is entered again.

Thereafter, normal drawing-off operation can be carried out again.

As may also be seen from the illustrated construction of the overallinstallation according to FIG. 1, the waiter-recognition apparatuses 11are preferably arranged separately from the respective drinks-dispensingmachine or draught-dispensing block 3. This means that there is noobstruction when entering the staff identification and dispensing thedrinks. When a new waiter identification is entered, the previous one isdeleted.

When using external metering devices (see 9), it is possible andpreferable for not only the drinks, but also the drinks quantities to bepreset. This gives advantages, in particular, also in the case of mixeddrinks, for example cola/lemonade mixed drinks or so-called shandies.

Furthermore, provision may also be made for preventing the dispensing ofdrinks when system faults occur.

In this arrangement, the electronic unit 17 may be fitted with afault-detection means which constantly checks its own functioning andthat of the peripheral units and/or apparatuses. If a fault is detected,this gives rise to a fault indication (e.g. "turbine 12 defective","automatic valve 02 is not closing", "leak in line 03", "electronicsdefective", etc.) and all the automatic valves 29 close, a signal beingproduced in addition. Resetting of the automatic valves 29 and of thesignal is then possible only by an authorization identification.

Finally, it is also possible for unmonitored dispensing of drinks to beprevented in the event of a power failure.

For this purpose, it is provided that all the automatic valves 29likewise close in the event of a power failure. Said valves can beopened again via an authorization-key switch in order to permit manualemergency operation (a power reserve in the form of a battery may, forexample, make this operation possible).

I claim:
 1. A method of monitoring a drinks dispenser in adrink-dispensing installation having an automatic valve and a manuallyactuable hand-dispensing valve connected in series with the automaticvalve and requiring an authorized individual to identify himself byentering a code to dispense the drinks, comprising the stepsof:maintaining the automatic valve open, opening the hand valve andclosing the automatic valve at a time subsequent to a start of theopening of the hand valve when a drink is drawn from the dispenserwithout first entering the code.
 2. A method according to claim 1,including the step of commencing the closing of the automatic valve inresponse to opening the hand valve without a code having been enteredand thereafter slowly closing the automatic valve.
 3. A method accordingto claim 2, including continuously closing the automatic valve after itsclosure has been commenced.
 4. A method according to claim 1, includingclosing the automatic valve in a stepped manner in response to openingthe hand valve without a code having been entered.
 5. A method accordingto claim 1, including maintaining the automatic valve completely orpartially open for a bridging time and closing the automatic valvewithin a subsequent brief closure time of approximately 0.1 second toapproximately 1 second.
 6. A method according to claim 1, includingemitting an acoustical or visual signal in response to opening the handvalve without a code being entered beforehand, and beginning closing theautomatic valve once the visual signal has appeared or the acousticsignal has been sounded.
 7. A method according to claim 1, includingstopping the closing of the automatic valve and returning the automaticvalve to its completely open position in response to closing the handvalve after the start of drawing off a drink without a code entry andbefore the final closed position of the automatic valve has beenreached.
 8. A method according to claim 1, including terminating theclosure of the automatic valve after the hand valve has been openedwithout a code entry in a period of preferably 0.3 second to 3 seconds.9. A method according to claim 1, including, in the event of anincorrect operation when the automatic valve has been finally closed anda code is subsequently entered, interrogating whether a prior removalattempt has been conducted without an entered code before the automaticvalve is closed, and opening the automatic valve in response to theinterrogation.
 10. A method according to claim 1, including, subsequentto an attempt at drinks removal without a code being entered and closureof the hand valve within a pre-settable time, closing the automaticvalve irrespective of the position of the hand valve in response to asubsequent second attempt at drinks dispensing without a code beingentered.
 11. A method according to claim 1, including closing saidautomatic valve in response to (a) exceeding a pre-settable number ofincorrect operations within a unit of time, (b) exceeding a pre-settablelimit value for a permissible number of incorrect operations during abilling period, or (c) upon exceeding a quantity limit value for anon-accountable quantity of drinks.
 12. Apparatus for monitoring adrinks dispenser in a drink-dispensing installation, comprising:adrinks-dispensing station; a code-entering and registering station; adrinks supply line having a normally open automatic valve, a throughflowsensor connected in series with said automatic valve and a hand-operatedvalve assigned to said drinks-dispensing station; an electronic controlunit; said automatic valve and said throughflow sensor being connectedto said control unit for closing said automatic valve in response todispensing a drink at said dispensing station without a code beingentered at said code-entering and registering station and at a timesubsequent to opening the hand valve.
 13. Apparatus according to claim12, including means for closing the automatic valve over a period oftime.
 14. Apparatus according to claim 12, including means forcontinuously closing the automatic valve for a period of time. 15.Apparatus according to claim 12, including means for closing theautomatic valve in a stepped manner.